Galaxy Nexus Android 4.2 features available early

Android 4.2 will not make its official debut until November 13 when it lands inside the impressive looking Nexus 4, but as we’ve seen with previous versions of Android, features of the new update have already found their way to current handsets with Galaxy Nexus users first in line.

If you are in possession of a Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.1.1, you’ll be pleased to hear that you can now download the camera APK from Android 4.2 and enjoy all of the new camera features, including the new gallery and fancy PhotoSphere abilities.

For those that are not aware what PhotoSphere entails yet, allow us to give you a brief reminder. You can now take 360 degree photos in a Panoramic like setting, and then instantly share it off to various spaces, including Google Maps if you want to take your image global.

It’s just one of the impressive new features packed inside Android 4.2 Jelly Bean (not Key Lime Pie yet) and you can enjoy it for free if you have a rooted Galaxy Nexus handset. As always, there is a lot of tinkering to be done beforehand and it involves a bit of flashing – meaning that you’ll probably want to back up your data first before attempting.

If you are interested in trying this out, you will find a full set of instructions and all of the relevant download links over at the XDA developer forums. Alternatively, if you don’t have a Galaxy Nexus but also want a taste of Android 4.2 early, you may be interested in downloading the Android 4.2 keyboard with Gesture typing instead – details on this can be found courtesy of Android Police here.

So Android 4.2 is not even out yet, but already two major new features of Google’s new software have slipped out for early preview. Have you already had a play at the Android 4.2 camera or keyboard features? If so, let us know your impressions of both and whether you would recommend the update or not.